Toking Up In The Office

BOB ROSNER
ABC News

Dear WOUNDED: I work closely with a guy who I think is high all the time. I'm not trying to tell him how to live his life, but I'm scared that he'll do something stupid and hurt himself and the rest of us. What can I do?

ANSWER: There are many military buffs out there who enjoy keepsakes from the military. One particular adult education teacher had a 40-mm shell he'd found on a hunting trip as a paperweight on his desk. He figured the shell must be inert. One day a bug crawled across his desk. The teacher promptly picked up the shell and slammed it on the insect. Far from inert, the shell exploded giving the teacher burns and shrapnel lacerations on his hand, forearm and torso.

Some would argue that a limited amount of recreational drug use is relatively inert. However, when it comes to the workplace, drug use often seems more like that unexploded ordinance, an explosion just waiting to happen. I'll outline three dos and one don't for dealing with a co-worker who you suspect may be using drugs. For more, check out Gini Graham Scott's book "Managing Employees From Hell" (Amacom, 2007).